Crumbling roads in a Cache neighborhood get repairs

CACHE, OK (KSWO) - Streets in a neighborhood in the town of Cache are getting long overdue repairs, starting Monday.

The residents have been dealing with crumbling roadways for several years, but now 10 concrete streets east of 1st Street in Cache are being ripped up and replaced with asphalt. The Comanche Nation is partnering with Comanche County and the City of Cache, and using funds from the Federal Highway Administration to reimburse the county almost $300,000 once it's completed.

Some of the residents, who say they have been there since the neighborhood was being built, say they have not seen any major repairs being done to the roads. One of the homeowners described driving on these streets like driving off-road, and they look forward to seeing a brand new road that has been a long time in the making.

Ramon Ortega has been living in the 30-year-old neighborhood for about 15 years.

"Some of these roads were pretty sad,” said Ortega. “I mean you literally would have to have some kind of Jeep or something to go over these roads because they were just pretty rough."

He says he is grateful that something is finally being done.

"I get visitors that come from out of town, and it's hard to explain to them that we have some bad roads out here that need to be repaired" said Ortega.

The streets here are covered in pot holes, cracks and loose concrete. Residents say that when they are driving through. They have to use extreme caution just to get to their homes.

Comanche County District 3 Commissioner Don Hawthorne says they have wanted to complete this project for many years, but did not have the money for it before the Comanche Nation stepped in. Just last year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs allowed the tribe's transportation department to work with counties in these road improvement projects. Hawthorne says it has taken a year of work to break ground on this neighborhood road project.

He says a large number of Comanche tribal members live in the neighborhood in Cache, but that's not the only reason for this partnership.

"It benefits everyone,” said Hawthorne. “Tribal members as well has everybody else that uses the road. It's a real benefit, and I really appreciate the cooperation we have with the tribe."

Another project that is getting started out on the other side of the county in Elgin is Northeast Kleeman Road between Highway 277 and Highway 17. With the Comanche Nation and Comanche County, they are laying down some new asphalt to smooth out the road.

The county expects this project in Cache to finish up in a little more than a month, if everything goes right and the weather doesn't delay construction.

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